Expectations
by miyavirock
Summary: Naruto isn't doing so well in Algebra class, so Sasuke is made to tutor him. As Sasuke learns of Naruto's terrible home life, they become friends and more. (Should be staying at shonen ai... rated for language)
1. Make Me!

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"**Expectations**" 

Sasuke (plus) Naruto

AU, OOC, fluff, shonen ai, MATH!

Rated: R (Language and such)

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Scenario: Naruto and Sasuke are about 15 years old in good ol' Algebra 2. (Sophomores in high school) Their teacher is Kakashi. Naruto's got a hard life at home thanks to his Dad. Yah...

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Howdy howdy howdy. Katsuya here. Jeez.. this is the first story I've posted on in years, literally. Okey dokey - this is Naruto and Sasuke. It was going to be a yaoi/lemon.. but I changed my mind. It would lose its whole effect. Now it's just shonen ai lime-ness Enjoi!! Oh - there's math language in here - but you don't have to be able to understand it. Just skip over the lines if you want to. I don't care. (This is the second posting of this chapter - just to fix some math errors that were pointed out lol)

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Expectations - Chapter One: Make Me!

"So, by taking the value of X you found in the first equation and substituting it back into the second equation, you're left with nothing but Y values, so you can solve. This is really the simplest method."

Naruto stared at the whiteboard in pure confusion. His teacher, Kakashi, had just finished explaining systems of equations to the class. However, instead of making things simpler, the lesson had merely made Naruto feel worse off than when it had begun.

Naruto was a quick-tempered, not-too-bright boy of fifteen years. His slouched form in class hid his lean, well-shaped body. Crystal blue eyes blinked perplexingly around under a mess of spiked-up, blonde hair, which Naruto was currently fidgeting with.

"Okay, now I want everyone to try an example. I'll call on someone in a few minutes, so be ready," Kakashi said, writing the example on the board.

Naruto copied the two equations onto his paper and stared at them blankly.

2x (plus) 5y (equals) 4

4x (plus) 12y (equals) 8

He continued to stare, clueless as to even the first step. Glancing around he noticed the other students scribbling away. Sasuke, Naruto's arch-nemesis, had already finished and his pencil was resting quietly back on his desk. Naruto looked over to Sakura to see that she had just finished as well.

Naruto rubbed his head. Math was his worst subject, but he had somehow managed to squirm into an honors class. All for Sakura. He couldn't live without sharing at least one class with her.

"All right. Now why don't you tell us how you solved this problem, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up nervously, "I dunno."

Kakashi crossed his arms, "Give it a try. How do you _think _you would do this?"

"Umm... you would... times the two thingies by two? No! By a negative two!"

"Not quite... just focus on the bottom equation for now. It seems the most logical to solve first."

"Umm... divide by two? No, by a negative two! Yeah-"

"It's very easy." Sasuke interrupted, "looking at the bottom equation, you would pull 12y to the other side by subtraction, and then divide by four. X is then isolated."

"Right," Kakashi said, jotting something on his clipboard, "Why don't you come to the board and finish the problem up for us, Sasuke?"

Sasuke gradually made his way to the board. He wrote quickly, the numbers flowing together smoothly seeming to create a foreign language that Naruto obviously wasn't fluent in.

Sasuke capped the marker and turned around, "X equals two, Y equals zero. Child's play," he scoffed, "You'd have to be an idiot not to understand how to do that."

Naruto, feeling discouraged and stupid, slumped back in his chair. He felt even worse as he watched Sasuke ignore a compliment and smile from Sakura.

Sasuke was a very attractive boy. Sharp, violet eyes pierced through anyone who dared to challenge him. His jet-black hair was arranged in a seemingly messy, but strategically arranged style. He stood strongly, at nearly six feet. His figure was lean, yet naturally muscular, which many of his fellow male-classmates were quite jealous of. Not to mention the many girls that swooned over him. Namely Sakura.

"That's correct, very good. Naruto, you and Sasuke see me after class."

Naruto groaned and put his head in his hands. Sasuke muttered something under his breath, and class went on.

Eventually (approximately ten minutes later) Naruto grew bored of numbers and fell asleep, face buried in the soft orange cloth of his hoodie. He awoke roughly an hour later to the generous insults of Sasuke.

"... no freaking way! He's a complete idiot! You can't teach that moron anything unless there's a prize offered. Usually Sakura."

Kakashi spoke up, "You're being unfair, Sasuke. Naruto's a fellow student. You should be eager to help. He's-"

"How the hell did he make an honors class, anyway? He's probably making a thirty."

"Watch your language. He has a sixty-seven, actually."

Naruto sat up, angry that Kakashi would discuss his grade so openly with Sasuke.

Kakashi looked over, "Oh, Naruto. We were just about to wake you u-"

"Yeah, after that asshole finished insulting me, right?"

"Wrong. Sasuke - apologize." Kakashi commanded.

Sasuke crossed his arms defiantly, "No."

Naruto stuck out his tongue, "Sasuke's too good to apologize. His parents brought him up to be a dick and think he's the best even though he's NOT and won't ever be!"

"Hello? I'm your teacher! Cool the language, Naruto. I could write you-"

"Then who's the best if I'm not?" Sasuke shot back.

"I am!" Naruto shouted, jumping up.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh, Mr. Sixty-seven!"

"Shut up, Mr. Must-please-Daddy-so-I'm-not-disowned! You know that's the only reason he likes you! If you weren't a giant brain with legs, he wouldn't even give you a second glance! So-"

"Ladies! Not one more word or I'm assigning both of you detention!" Kakashi said, pausing the quarrel for the moment.

Naruto stuck his tongue out once more for good measure, feeling a little bad when he caught sight of the hurt look on Sasuke's face. He brushed the guilt aside as he sat back down.

"Okay, Naruto - listen up. Sasuke is your new tutor." Kakashi held a hand up to silence Naruto as he began to complain, "I've paired the highest grade with the lowest grade. You slept through half the class today, Naruto. You need help, which Sasuke has agreed to-"

"No I didn't."

"For the chance to drop his lowest grade, Sasuke has agreed to provide the help. If your test grades don't improve, I'll stop the peer tutoring and-"

"Just when are we supposed to find the time to do this?!" Naruto asked angrily.

"Make time. Naruto, if you don't make an 85 or higher on your next test... I'm dropping you from honors."

"What?! An 85??! I've never made an 85 in my entire life!"

"Well, I suppose that is now your problem and Sasuke's problem. Our next test is Thursday the twelfth. That gives you a little over a week. You're welcome to use the classroom before and after school for as long as reasonably needed," Kakashi said, taking his leave, "Oh, and good luck."

Naruto flipped the finger at the door as he watched it shut behind Kakashi. He was now trapped in his least favorite place with his least favorite person.

"Okay, dunce. Let's get started. We'll stay after an hour every day and come an hour early every morning until the test. I'll waste my time to help you." Sasuke said, sliding into the chair next to Naruto and flipping open the algebra book in front of them, "I don't even know why I'm doing this. Dropping my lowest grade won't help me at all. You're a waste of everyone's time, Naruto. Honestly."

Naruto looked down.

"_You're a waste of a perfectly good existence!" ... "I should have put you up when I found out you weren't mine!" ... "There's nothing about you I don't hate!" ... "Why don't you just do us all a favor and DIE?!"_

Sasuke glanced over and noticed a difference in the way Naruto looked. Instead of the determined, confident sneer he usually wore, Naruto looked lost and hurt. His eyes looked empty and his lips were set in a frown. Sasuke actually felt a little bad for his insult, but brushed his feelings aside quickly.

"Okay, let's start with something a ten year-old could understand," Sasuke sighed, pulling some notebook paper and a few pencils from his bag. He wrote two simple equations onto the paper.

x (equals) 2y

x (plus) y (equals) 3

"Now. Do you see how the top equation has X all alone?" Sasuke paused as Naruto nodded, "Okay. You take 2y - that's what X is equal to - and plug it into the bottom equation. In other words, you take what X is equal to and replace the X on the bottom equation with that value. Which gives you...?" Sasuke inched the paper over to Naruto.

Naruto wrote "x (plus) 2y (equals) 3" without hesitation and gave the paper back to Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Naruto's answer, "How the hell did you get that, idiot?!"

Naruto huffed, "From the top equation, where else!?"

Sasuke pointed down, "No. You plug the x (equals) 2y in for X. You don't just randomly add another Y. You would do it like this: "2y (plus) y (equals) 3" Do you see?"

Naruto nodded feebly, feeling more stupid with each passing pencil stroke.

"Alright, that leaves you with "3y (equals) 3," so you would divide, which leaves you with "y (equals) 1." Then you use the same substitution method with the Y value and the top equation. So, "x (equals) 2(1)" or "x (equals) 2." Got it?"

"Uh-huh." Naruto breathed, hating how easy this was for Sasuke and how difficult it was for him.

"So, y (equals) 1 and x (equals) 2. Simple, right?"

Naruto sighed, "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

Sasuke wrote a harder set of equations down and Naruto settled in for an extra hour of fun time."

As soon as the clock read 3:30, Naruto jumped up and gathered his things.

"See ya!" he said as he raced for the door. Naruto rounded the corner and hurried for the exit, bursting through the doors.

It felt so much better to be out in the fresh air than inside with calculators and Sasuke. Naruto felt himself grin under the sunshine.

Naruto glanced down at his watch and felt his smile crack right off his face. Of course he knew it was 3:30. That's what the clock inside had said. However, while in the confines of the classroom walls, he didn't realize exactly what 3:30 meant.

He didn't realize that 3:30 was fifteen minutes from 3:45, the time his dad got home. He didn't realize that the house wasn't clean and that his father would accept no excuses.

Or, rather, he didn't realize any of that until now.

"Shit..." Naruto cursed under his breath as he broke out in a sprint that many Olympic athletes would kill for.

He dodged kids on bikes, old women walking their dogs and even a few cars. He darted through yards, utilizing any and all shortcuts he could think of. There was no way he could let his dad beat him home.

Not if he enjoyed residing in the land of the living.

Naruto grit his teeth as he came upon the final stretch. His book bag wasn't helping him at all. But, he had turned a thirty-minute walk into a ten-minute dash. But would it be enough?

Apparently Naruto hadn't thought this through very well. Even if he managed to beat his father home, he would have less than five minutes to clean the entire bottom floor of his house. In other words: Accomplish the impossible. On top of the house not being cleaned, he would be exhausted from the run and vulnerable to any attacks, physical or verbal, his father was ready to throw at him.

Naruto's father, named Des, was no man to mess with. He was tall, nearly six and a half feet, and was built like a wrestler. His thick brown hair was cut short, neatly and consistently. He dressed crisply, like someone straight from the military.

Definitely not someone you wanted to mess with.

But, alas, fate danced against Naruto yet again. As he neared his house, his father's green mustang was unmistakably parked in the driveway.

Naruto stopped cold in his tracks.

"Sure, this is fair." Naruto mumbled, "First too much math.. now too much, _way_ too much trouble... ugh..." he sighed.

He regained his composure a few seconds later and walked slowly towards his house. As he walked, he 'cheerfully' tried to plan the words he wanted inscribed on his tombstone, which, surely, would be carved the next day.

However, he was unable to come up with anything that wouldn't make his mother cry, so he gave up as he stepped inside his house.

The door had barely even shut when the fury was upon him.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" a thunderous voice yelled. Naruto wasn't surprised to hear this.

However, he winced, bracing himself for the strike that came seconds later. No matter how many times he was beaten or how much he prepared himself, Naruto found that it always hurt.

He stumbled back to the door and clutched his jaw. Blood trickled down his busted lip.

"You little ingrate. You think you can just waltz in whenever you want?! Well, I've got news for-"

"I'm being tutored," Naruto interrupted.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?!"

"I have to stay after school for an hour everyday so my grades'll improve."

"Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. How many times do I have to tell you you're a lost cause!? I want this house clean before I get home, every day. No questions asked. That means no hour-long tutoring. I hope I won't have to enforce this."

Naruto glared at the ground, "What don't you enforce?"

"That should have been a smart-ass comment, but it was the truth, so I'll let it slide." Naruto's father now wore a smug grin, "I don't give a fuck how you waste your existence, so long as you keep my house clean and stay the hell away from me."

Naruto moved to walk off, but was shoved back. He felt the doorknob digging into his back and grit his teeth, trying to ignore the pain.

"I didn't hear any acknowledgement. Maybe you didn't understand what I said. Here. Let me dumb it down for your primitive-"

"Yes, sir. The house will be clean every day."

"That's better," his father gave a sickening smile.

Naruto broke loose of his grip and sulked off. He rubbed his back gingerly. He was going to be bruised there, no doubt.

He discarded his book bag in his room and stepped into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. His reflection in the mirror caused him to flinch. His lip was split wide open on the right side. Dried blood caked his jaw like cheap Halloween makeup. He saw a large bruise near the corner of his mouth already forming.

"Mom's gonna flip..." he sighed, peeling his clothes off.

He was used to bruises and cuts, but his mother's tears hurt the most. But she could cry all she wanted. She never did anything more than that. Naruto's thoughts turned bitter. No matter what he did to Naruto, she would always forgive her husband. She was weak, and Naruto's father seemed to be the only pillar to hold onto.

Yoko, Naruto's mother, was a very beautiful woman. She had long flowing blond hair that reached the middle of her back. She had a slim figure and her heart-shaped face showed no signs of aging. She stood barely under six feet tall, but always walked timidly. Her bright green eyes always seemed to dart around nervously. These were the effects of being married to the ruffian she called a husband. She could easily find a nice, more attractive mate, but something was holding her back. Fear.

Naruto turned the shower's nozzle to full heat and his thoughts trailed from his parents to Sakura. His angel. The prettiest girl in his grade. Her round green eyes complimented her soft, cherry-tinted hair. She had a humble, yet well shaped form, which was the object of many of her classmates' desires. She stood just under Naruto's height, nearly five and a half feet tall. Her presence around Naruto was enough to make him feel as if he were in Heaven, even if she could be quite rude to him.

Naruto felt his thoughts shifting positions again to the heat building up in the small room. Before long he felt the steam wrap around his body. He shut his eyes and slipped under the scorching rain, feeling it singe away his worries, roll them over his body and down the endless drain.

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End Chapter One

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Please review!!! It boosts my ego and makes me update more often!! XD 


	2. Make Me Smart

**"Expectations"**

Sasuke (plus) Naruto

AU, OOC, fluff, shonen ai, MATH!

Rated: R (Language and such)

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Scenario: Naruto was offered a "study-buddy" (aka Sasuke) by Kakashi. This would help improve his terrible grade in Algebra. However - Naruto's abusive father seemed to disagree.

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Hey there everyone Let me take this opportunity to address a few reviews. First: the whole math problem from last chapter - I would have used pluses/equals signs - but didn't want to cooperate. So I had to substitute. However - that won't be a problem anymore - there won't be much math language from here on out. As for the math error I made - it was correct before I had to re-edit using "(plus),(equals)" but when I went back through, I put them in the wrong order. Sorry about that ;; (By the way: What's cookie-cutter-ish?? I couldn't figure that out, sorry lol :3) ((2nd posting - fixing a few errors)) 

This chapter's kinda long... sorry about that. Oh yeah - one more thing. About updating - I should update every Saturday. Once a week. That's the only chance I have spare time.

Okey dokey - enjoi now ;D

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Expectations - Chapter Two: Make Me Smart

Naruto reluctantly sat up and blinked groggily at his clock for a few seconds.

School started promptly at 7:30 am every morning. The clock read 8:04 am.

"Shit!" he hissed, jumping up.

He sped through his morning routine, barely even pausing to pull his clothes on. Racing down the stairs, Naruto tugged his equallyreluctant book bag behind him. He hastily snatched up some pop-tarts on his way out, not even considering telling his wonderful parents good-bye.

After he sprinted half the way to school, Naruto decided that there was no need to hurry. He was already a half an hour late, so how much could a few more minutes matter?

He brushed his hands through his blonde, sleep-mussed hair, which he had responsibly forgotten to brush. "What's with me lately?" Naruto mumbled. This would be the third morning in a row he'd be late to school. "Maybe I should look into setting my alarm..."

Nothing seemed to be going Naruto's way lately. For starters, when help had been offered to him, it had only been snatched away by his father. Naruto could deny it all he wanted, but the truth of the matter was that he was grateful for the help in math. He knew he needed it. But now he would have to drop the only class he had with Sweet Sakura. How very fair.

Naruto poked at his throbbing lip. As he had expected, the bruise had spread and worsened, forming a new, quite noticeable attribute to his face. If the blue and grey mark didn't shout "Look at me!" loud enough, then the large slit in his lip was screeching at such a volume that it might burst a few eardrums. One can only thank the gods that neither had the ability to _voice_ their opinion.

As the school came into view, Naruto let out a wistful sigh. He was beginning to grow fond of his daily walks. They allowed him to organize his thoughts, the few that were there.

One subject that frequented Naruto's thoughts concerned a certain emerald-eyed dream commonly known as Sakura. Specifically how he would only be able to catch stolen glimpses of her in the hallway from now on.

"This sucks..." Naruto groaned, yanking the door to the school open. He took his time getting to class, where he received detention for his tardiness.

Oh yes, things were going quite smoothly for Naruto.

"Sasuke, I can't stay after!" came an exasperated sigh. Naruto stood in Kakashi's classroom facing Sasuke. It was ten minutes after school had let out, and yet Naruto was still there.

"I can't believe you're ducking out of this tutoring thing Kakashi set up. You're never gonna be able to pass without my help! This is just like you to-"

"I have to go." Naruto interrupted, muttering insults under his breath as he headed for the door. He only made it a few steps outside before Sasuke caught up and fell into pace next to him.

"Stop preaching, Sasuke. If I can't stay, then I can't stay."

"You honestly think I'm going to beg you to come back? You just happen to be headed in the same direction as me, not to mention that my ride won't be here until 3:30. And plus: it's your grade. What do I care if you get dropped from honors?"

"You are such an asshole." Naruto spat.

When Sasuke didn't reply, Naruto allowed the silence to settle over them like a comfortable blanket. He absent-mindedly probed at his swollen cheek. All it took was a twitch of Naruto's lips and a sharp jolt of pain would course through his entire jaw.

This wasn't anything, though. Naruto had been through worse pains by his dad than a banged-up jaw.

One such instance occurred when Naruto was only seven. After playing in the yard with his dog, Naruto had tracked mud into the house. This, in itself, wasn't such a big deal. All it had earned was a few shouts from his dad, but when the naive Naruto shouted back, all Hell broke loose.

The next thing he knew, he was in a hospital bed with a broken arm and a mild concussion. His parents had told the doctors that Naruto had fallen from a tree. To make matters worse, Naruto's dad had the dog sent off to the pound. Emotionally scarring for such a young boy.

".. come from?"

Naruto blinked back into reality. He had zoned out for a few minutes and didn't realize that Sasuke was talking to him.

"Huh?"

"I asked you how you got that mark on your face."

"Oh, umm..." Naruto reached a hand up to hold his jaw as he continued, "I, um.. I got into a fight... on my way home yesterday," he lied.

"You're kidding," Sasuke started. "That's a really big mark. I mean - considering that you always pick fights with little kids because you're a weakling. What.. Did they hit you in the face with a hammer?"

"Yeah..." Naruto said distractedly.

"Yeah?!" Sasuke practically barked, unsure of Naruto's meaning.

"Yeah, it's a big bruise," Naruto clarified.

Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto suspiciously. Sure, Naruto was no stranger to street fights, but he never allowed his opponent to hit him in the face. At least not hard enough to bruise.

"Whatever. So what's your excuse? Why can't you stay after for the tutoring?"

"Because I have to clean the house." Naruto answered miserably.

"...and?"

"And if it's not clean when my dad gets home, conveniently at 3:45, then he'll bea... he'll yell at me... ground me." Naruto said, mentally slapping himself for almost slipping up.

Sasuke looked at Naruto in disbelief, the only expression he seemed able to muster that day, "He doesn't think your grades are more important?"

Naruto found himself growing irritated again, "He has a really short temper, and if I don't do what he says when he says it... then I get into trouble. And contrary to popular belief, it is _not_ fun getting into trouble."

Sasuke, ignoring Naruto's attempts at humor, was finally beginning to piece together the puzzle. He stopped abruptly and jerked Naruto's arm, pulling him to a halt as well.

"Hey, what the fu-"

"Did your dad do that to you?" Sasuke hissed.

Naruto's jaw dropped painfully open, then snapped shut once more. He had underestimated how perceptive Sasuke was. "No. I told you I got into a f-"

"With who?"

"What does it matter??"

"With who!"

"I dunno, some kids!" Naruto said heatedly, yanking his arm away.

"Why are you lying to me?"

"Why do you care?!"

Sasuke lowered his voice, "So he _did_ hit you..."

"Mind your own business." Naruto yelled, turning on his hell and walking briskly away. Sasuke followed.

"Naruto, you should turn him in, or something," he said with sincerity. A new emotion for Sasuke.

"Fuck off."

Sasuke grew angry again, "Stop being such an ass!"

"You started it."

Sasuke sighed, "Fine, whatever. Do what you want."

"I will," Naruto countered, crossing his arms.

Both boys grew silent, unable to produce any more arguments or insults. Now, instead of the semi-friendly silence that had enveloped them previously, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves at a rather uncomfortable loss for words. Which, needless to say, didn't last for long.

"... does he hit you a lot?"

"Drop it," Naruto said through clenched teeth.

Sasuke words were frustrated, "I'm just concerned for someone who isn't."

Naruto gave a sigh of relief when he saw his house; not his usual reaction. He turned to cut through his front yard, "Bye."

"Naruto."

Naruto stopped and turned to face Sasuke, "What now?"

"Can you come to school early? Maybe I can tutor you th-"

"Yeah - right," Naruto scoffed. "Coming to school early for me is still considered being late."

"Then why don't you just wake up earlier?"

Naruto glowered at Sasuke, "I wish you'd stop telling me what to do."

"I suggested you do something. I didn't command it."

"What's with your sudden interest in my grades, Sasuke? You're starting to piss me off. Didn't you just say you didn't care if I was dropped from honors??"

Sasuke shrugged and turned around, walking away.

"Hey! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you! Hey!!"

But Sasuke continued to disregard the shouts of Naruto as he sauntered off.

Grumbling, Naruto stomped into his house and slammed the door, "What the hell is his problem? God, he really pisses me off."

Growing angrier with each passing moment, Naruto sloppily cleaned up the house. Not such a wise decision on his part.

* * *

Naruto was inhis room attempting his homework when he heard his dad get home and immediately start cussing and complaining. Big surprise. 

Naruto stood up, his bad mood still circulating around him. It seemed there would be a bad ending to his already miserable day.

It didn't take long (_approximately 2.6 seconds_) before Des made his way up to Naruto's room, where he reliably started yelling without a moment's hesitation.

"I thought I told you to have my house clean!?" Des roared, throwing the door open.

"It is clean," Naruto said softly, but defiantly.

"You call that wreck clean? Well, I guess," Des paused to looks around with faux-disgust, for Naruto's room was, in fact, clean, "I guess living in this shit-hole would cause your judgment to be very misconstrued."

Naruto sucked in a breath, "My room's fine. You don't sleep in here, so what does it matter to you?"

"It doesn't. But the bottom floor of my house does!" Des ground out.

Naruto's thoughts were obviously clouded over with his built-up anger from earlier that day, for his next words were foolish. "Well, if it's so freakin' important to you, then why don't you clean it? That way there-"

Des cut Naruto off by grabbing the scruff of his neck, "What was that? I suggest you don't boss _me _around you insolent little maggot!"

Naruto's eyes widened as Des exerted his force and shoved Naruto into the wall, a distance of less than two feet. Trying to avoid as much pain as possible, Naruto instinctively drew his hands up in front of him. He let out a whimper as they collided with the wall. Des wasted no time, though, and grabbed Naruto's upper arm and led him to the door, rather agonizingly, and thrust him towards the stairs.

"Now get your pathetic ass downstairs and clean up!"

* * *

Naruto sat at the table, munching his dinner with quite a sour look on his face. Obviously his day had gone horribly. Now, on top of a very sore jaw, Naruto's left wrist felt as if it had been trampled by a lawn mower. 

He stole a glance at the clock to see that it was 7:30. He'd been at the table for nearly an hour.

Naruto sighed boisterously, "May I be excused _now_?" He had already asked twice earlier and been refused both times because he hadn't eaten enough.

"Just go!" Des snarled, "I'm sick of hearing your whining!"

After discarding his plate and its accessories in the sink, Naruto hurried from the kitchen straight to the living room for some much-deserved television. He lazily channel surfed until he found a random cartoon, and settled in for a few immature laughs.

Naruto had only been watching his cartoon for a few minutes when the doorbell rang, nearly causing him to fall out of his chair. He headed towards the door slowly only to find that his mother had beaten him. Turning to leave, a familiar voice reached Naruto's ears, causing him to freeze.

He whirled around, greeted by the worried expression of his mother and the challenging gaze of Sasuke.

"Umm, Naruto, dear? Your friend is here to help you with math?" Yoko said with a slight snivel. Naruto knew she meant to ask: _"Are you sure it's a good idea to have a friend over?"_

"Yeah.. I, um... didn't know he was coming." Naruto answered, glaring Sasuke down as he shut the door. Naruto knew this wouldn't end well.

_"I hope you're happy, Sasuke..."_ Naruto thought, _"You'll finally get to meet my dear ol' dad."_

And, as if the whole scene had been perfectly planned, Des decided to amble over with the all-too-familiar sneer plastered smugly on his face.

"Who the hell's that?" he growled.

Naruto took a deep breath. "My tutor," he sighed, turning to his dad.

"I thought I told you no tutoring?"

"You did."

"Honey..." Yoko tried to intervene.

Sasuke stepped up, as well, and stood next to Naruto. "Sir, if I may interrupt, Naruto needs tutoring very badly. Without any help, he's going to fail math this year."

Naruto jerked his attention to Sasuke in angered disbelief.

Des's glare snapped over to Sasuke, as well. "That's no surprise. That's all Naruto is: a failure. I didn't need some snot-nosed twelve year-old punk to tell me that."

"He's fifteen..." Naruto whispered, shutting his eyes. His nightmare was worsening. He had always tried to hide his abuse from everyone, but now it seemed his attempts at this, like everything else in his life, were finally failing.

"That may be so," Sasuke hummed, "but we can actually correct his, unlike the many other traits of Naruto that are beyond help."

Naruto was fantasizing about killing Sasuke at this point. _"Always has to weasel in an insult, any chance he gets..." _Naruto thought indignantly.

"I don't like your attitude. What makes you think _you _can tell _me _what's fixable when I know perfectly well it's permanently broken?!"

Yoko stepped up to a flustered Des, "Honey, please. Not while there are guests over."

Des seemed to consider this for a few seconds, then grinned maliciously. "Fine. Naruto, go play school. Have your fun. For now."

Naruto sighed, yet again, picking up the hidden message behind his father's words, the same way he had earlier with his mother's. Why couldn't his parents just say what they meant?!

"C'mon, Sasuke," he said, leading the way to his room. He heard the arguing between Des and Yoko start and continue the entire way up the stairs and into his room as he shut the door.

Sasuke was seeing a completely different side of Naruto, and he had barely been over for five minutes. He didn't like at all the insecure, obedient child that Naruto appeared to be. However, he was soon welcomed by the Naruto he had come to know.

"What the hell are you doing here, you stupid asshole?!" Naruto hissed.

"I'm here to tutor you." Sasuke said nonchalantly, dropping down onto Naruto's bed.

"I hope you realize how much trouble I'm gonna be in when you leave!! Why did you just randomly show up!? And then back talk _my _dad! My _abusive _dad, who you just met!! You're stupider than me!"

"I made a deal with Kakashi to tutor you, and-"

"Why did you tell my dad I'd fail??"

Sasuke shrugged, "Because I thought it would have more of an impact than "he'll be dropped to an easier class." I guess I was wrong."

"You're always wrong! You can't do this anymore. He'll murder me if you show up again!"

"Umm... how bout, no." Sasuke lulled out with a glare.

"What? Yes!! It's my life! My decision!"

"Unless you can make it to school early or stay late, then this is the new tutoring time."

Naruto gave a loud groan of frustration and stomped around the room. Oh yeah, maturity rocks when Naruto is concerned.

"Naruto..." Sasuke started, crossing his arms and stepping over towards his 'friend,' "I'm honestly trying to help you. I-"

"So now you're some kind of peace-making hippie pacifist all of a sudden? I ain't buyin' it! I do _not_ want or need your crummy help!"

Sasuke hid his anger and pulled out his math book, "Well, that's too bad, 'cause I'm already here. To borrow an over-used cliche, there's no use crying over spilt milk. I don't see why you don't pounce on the opportunity to improve one aspect of your life while there's a chance." Sasuke made his way over to the bed once more.

Naruto shook his head, still angry, "No. I don't understand you! At first, you were completely against even looking at me! What's with the complete 360 all of a sudden?!"

Sasuke smiled in spite of himself, "180, Naruto. A 360 would be a complete spin, so I'd be right back where I started. 180 is-"

"I don't care!" Naruto yelled furiously.

Sasuke sighed and stood up, "I guess it's because I can relate to your situation." Sasuke continued with slight hesitation, "Do you remember those things you said yesterday about how my dad only paid attention to me because I'm smart?" Sasuke paused as Naruto nodded, "Well.. you were right. My dad hates my guts. The only time he'll speak to me is if I have an award or something of that nature in my hand. I'm a trophy to show off to his snobby friends and nothing more. If I don't pull through for him.. then I'm the same as your dad sees you. A wasted effort; A failure. So I suppose I feel like I've been in your shoes... maybe I still am, I dunno..."

Naruto was shocked that Sasuke had told him something so personal, but he didn't let it faze him. "Well, whatever. That doesn't make a diff-"

"Just... get over here and learn some freaking math, Naruto." Sasuke interjected, very much irritated.

Naruto, out of fuel or reason, finally gave in, "Fine..."

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End Chapter Two

* * *

Thanks for the encouragement so far!! I hope everyone continues to give support (AKA 'Read and Review' XD) 


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